Autopilot
Distinguished Member
I've been wanting to take my (currently Alexa driven) smart home to the next level for a while, but there is just so much to consider these days. I have loads of smart devices, from different manufacturers, and about 7 Alexa Echo's around the house, but I'm really starting to tire of 'talking' to Alexa. I just find it incredibly annoying when she doesn't hear me properly and I get weird responses like "There are multiple devices called Office Lamp, which one do you want?" I mean, what the hell - I don't have a single device called 'Office lamp' or even an office, but even if I did how would I respond to that anyway if they all have the same name? There is also a delay in processing your voice request and responding that's starting to bug me, especially when I need to do a few things in succession, so I would like an app with quick access (and that certainly isn't the Alexa app, my god its terrible if you want to manually turn some lights off etc). But mostly I've hit a brick wall with Alexa routines - I just don't get why Amazon don't allow proper automation yet, they could steal the market, but I guess people talking less to Alexa isn’t something they want for some reason (I could guess a few).
Anyway, I looked first at Home Assistant and installed that on a spare Raspberry Pi, and...nope. I've got a full time job already, I don't need another one thanks (the time investment to benefit ratio doesn't do it for me, the whole point of home automation is to make things easier and free up time, not the opposite). I looked at Hubitat but had some similar concerns about the complexity, admittedly less so, and long-term commercial viability. Smart things seems to be on it way out, so not bothering with that either. Then I found Hoobs and Homebridge, which I installed on the Pi and makes all my non-HomeKit devices work in Homekit. Anyway, I spent the next few days messing with the Home app on my iPhone (and Siri shortcuts) and I am blown away. I had no idea what it could do now, and its so slick and well integrated into the Apple ecosystem that I much prefer using the home app+plus automatons than talking to Alexa most of the time now (Siri still sucks to talk to). I just can't think of anything I would ever want to do with Home Assistant and other similar system that I could do with HK. A quick swipe and its all done before Alexa would even wake up. That said, Alexa won't be going anywhere soon.
I realise this'll only applies to Apple peeps, but is anyone else with me here? Cant believe that I've had this in my hand all along and not bothered with it.
I’m also about to order a Starling Hub to get my Nest Cams working with HK, for unlocking my garage and turning outside lights on when they recognise my face. Anyone here tried the Starling hub?
Anyway, I looked first at Home Assistant and installed that on a spare Raspberry Pi, and...nope. I've got a full time job already, I don't need another one thanks (the time investment to benefit ratio doesn't do it for me, the whole point of home automation is to make things easier and free up time, not the opposite). I looked at Hubitat but had some similar concerns about the complexity, admittedly less so, and long-term commercial viability. Smart things seems to be on it way out, so not bothering with that either. Then I found Hoobs and Homebridge, which I installed on the Pi and makes all my non-HomeKit devices work in Homekit. Anyway, I spent the next few days messing with the Home app on my iPhone (and Siri shortcuts) and I am blown away. I had no idea what it could do now, and its so slick and well integrated into the Apple ecosystem that I much prefer using the home app+plus automatons than talking to Alexa most of the time now (Siri still sucks to talk to). I just can't think of anything I would ever want to do with Home Assistant and other similar system that I could do with HK. A quick swipe and its all done before Alexa would even wake up. That said, Alexa won't be going anywhere soon.
I realise this'll only applies to Apple peeps, but is anyone else with me here? Cant believe that I've had this in my hand all along and not bothered with it.
I’m also about to order a Starling Hub to get my Nest Cams working with HK, for unlocking my garage and turning outside lights on when they recognise my face. Anyone here tried the Starling hub?
Last edited: